Hands on with the Archos 10.1

I feel like we are finally starting to see decent Android tablets come into play. They aren’t the super dual core, Tegra 2 monsters we’ve seen sneakies of, but actual usable tablets. The Galaxy Tab really set a bar as far as quality and design goes, despite the arguments to the contrary. Archos has long been a supported of Android on their devices, though their previous attempts in the market have been unsuccessful due to some quality issues. Archos’ never say die attitude has brought them back with a whole cache of different devices in every shape and size, all running Android 2.2. Today, I was able to spend some time with their flagship, the Archos 101.

When you first turn the Archos 101 on, it’s pretty quick. Swipes from screen to screen are nice, and everything glides like it should. Archos has made quite a few changes to the stock 2.2 build of Android to accommodate their soft buttons and features. The lack of Google Apps, like the Android Market, kind of ruins the experience, though you are able to sideload apps. Sideloading apps is quick, and everything I could throw at it worked great. The hardware itself feels pretty solid, and the kickstand folds all the way back, giving you the ability to stand the tablet up on either side of the long plane of the tablet. It’s awkwardly long and narrow; you probably won’t take this tablet out of the house for much. With it’s battery life, however, you certainly could. It’s 2200MaH battery inside gave me just about 12 hours of video playback or gaming before I was given the red blinker. Speaking of gaming and movies, the built in speakers on this thing are very nice and loud, but still maintained quality.

Unfortunately, the nice things I have to say about the device have come to a close. When I came back to the tablet after an overnight charge, it was almost as though I was using a different device. The 101 had become sluggish in even the most basic tasks, and just about refused to rotate when I turned the tablet. After rebooting the tablet, I was greeted with a warning that there was insufficient space on the tablet, and I needed to remove some things. In case you weren’t aware, this thing has 16 Gb of internal storage. I had installed MAYBE 15 apps. I went and looked around the filesystem and discovered that only 256 mb had been reserved in a separate space for apps. While poking around the settings in hope for a resolution, I noticed that where you would normally find “move to SD card” there was “move to internal storage” though nothing was installed on the SD card I had put in the device. Additionally, only two of the applications that had come preloaded would move to internal storage, and nothing else would. I also noticed another button in the settings that disturbed me. It was labeled “Format and reboot” and did exactly that. Once it powered back on, the smooth enjoyable experience I had at the beginning was back. Unfortunately, I was able to re-create my lagtastic experience once I began filling up that 256mb space again.

I can’t help but point out that a good majority of the people I know who are interested in this device were interested in it because of the price and the size. After all, it’s cheaper than the Tab, and 10″ so it’s made of pure awesome, right? No. The Galaxy Tab beats this device in every conceivable way, except screen size if you consider that to be a benefit, which I do not. Like Archos’ previous devices, it is completely lacking in polish, and I suspect that the reason it does not have the Android Market on it has more to do with the device failing Google’s test suite for Market deployment than anything else. In order for this device to be usable, Archos needs to step in and correct some of these rather significant errors. I feel that if that happens, or it if gets modded to a more polished rom (eg: CyanogenMod) it will be a really great tablet. Until then, unfortunately, the 10.1 is exactly what it looks like in black and white — a cheap tablet.

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Founded on November 5, 2007, we've enjoyed bringing you the latest in Android news and rumors. Updated daily, we strive to deliver reviews, opinions, and updates on all things related to Android.

DaveC

If you had reviewed this prior to installing 2.2, I bet the result would have been much different. The Froyo ROM was just released a week ago (prematurely some would say) and a lot of people are having problems with it. I, however, am using the 7-inch version (The A70), still on 2.1, and I love it, and completely disagree with your assessment of “a cheap tablet.” One apk install gives you access to the complete Android Market, and as a media player it supports many codecs. I use the Nook application to download and read books. My Twitter and Facebook apps run flawlessly. I’m not a big gamer but Angry Birds looks awsome on the big screen. I think in time, Archos will get the bugs out of their rushed 2.2 ROM, and at $275 -$300, the Archos tablets will continue to rate very high on the “bang for the buck” chart.

Sandy

I just bought the 10.1 tablet and i would like to know how to get the android market on it. it did have me update to 2.2 i do think it runs great but i would like the android market as it has some things i would like to have that are not on the app lib

tony

try freewarelovers.com for great apps.

Sam ALlen

Hello Dave! I have been wanting an Archos 101 since I first heard of them. However, I am having NO LUCK at ALL finding then in stock. Any idea where to get one? You can email me at [email protected]!

Peter

I agree with Dave.

It’s a very easy to get the market on the device and afaik the reason it’s not there out of the box is the requirements Google have, one of them being 3G, wich it doesn’t have.

Nothing to with how good or bad the device is.

I to have an Archos 70 and yes it does have it’s shortcomings but overall it’s very good value for the money.

http://dangerismymiddlename.co Paul Danger Kile

No, no, no: Google does not want the Market on ANY tablet, unless it has 3.0 on it, which NONE of the ones currently for sale have.

DavidKirchner

I learned Andriod with the original Droid phone. Now with an Archos 101 Internet tablet, I had to learn how to use andriod on a tablet. AppsLib is NOTHING compared to Market. That took a while to cope with. The answer is Dolphin Browser, NOT APPS. With Dolphin I am watching youtube videos! Gmail, Google Docs, FaceBook and even my local TV stations have a mobile side that works awesome with a tablet web browser and no need for an App. I still need some apps, especially Skype and Kindle.